


A most wonderful idea

by nemo is back (rimerle)



Category: Richard II - Shakespeare
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 19:20:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6437089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rimerle/pseuds/nemo%20is%20back
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>To evilbean's prompt: Richard wants his portrait done but is never satisfied by the result.</p>
    </blockquote>





	A most wonderful idea

**Author's Note:**

> To evilbean's prompt: Richard wants his portrait done but is never satisfied by the result.

"I have had the most wonderful idea!" Bushy, Bagot and Green looked up at each other slightly worried and then back at Edward. Edward, the Duke of York's son, the King's cousin, was a young boy full of life. He clearly adored the King and the King was very fond of him so the whole court had to put up with him. However, his 'wonderful' ideas had had, more than once, catastrophic results; since Bushy, Bagot and Green were the one who had to deal with the consequences and clean up the mess, they had grown particularly distrustful towards his ideas. 

The King was away and he was not expected back until the next morning. Bushy, Bagot, Green and Edward, as well as a small part of the court, were having dinner in the White Hall. Without the constant anxiety of having to deal with the King's tantrums and desires, Bushy, Bagot and Green were a bit more relaxed than usual and were actually enjoying themselves. Until Edward opened his mouth.

"Would you like to share your idea with us Edward?" asked Bagot.  
"I noticed they are no portraits of the King here so I thought we should do something about that." Bushy, Bagot and Green were absolutely horrified.  
"Have you talked to the King about it?" asked Bushy nervously.  
"No, not yet," replied Edward. The three of them sighed in relief.  
"You should not talk about it to the King. Not even mention it," said Green.  
"But..."  
"Never, ever," said Bagot.  
"Forget you even thought of it," urged Bushy.  
"But why?" insisted Edward.  
"Don't you remember?" asked Bagot.  
"He is too young," said Bushy.  
"Tell me!" requested Edward. 

Understanding they had only managed to arouse Edward's curiosity and that he wouldn't budge from his idea, Bushy gave in. "We will tell you. On one condition. You have to give us your word you will not talk about the King's portrait again in this court. I am very serious Edward. Never ever again." Edward hesitated. One on hand he suspected they wanted to steal his wonderful idea. On the other hand they seemed genuinely anxious about this whole 'portrait idea' and he wanted to know why. He, finally, gave in. "I promise I will never speak to the King about getting his portrait done," he said solemnly. So, Bushy started the portrait's story.

\----------------------

"It was several years ago, before Queen Anne's death. The King and the Queen lived at Sheen palace and the King was utterly in love with Queen Anne. One morning he asked us to meet him in his chamber.  
"Dear friends, we need your advice: we want to make a gift to the Queen and we would like to hear your ideas about it," the King said.  
"Perhaps some jewellery," answered one of us.  
"Or maybe a houppelande?" suggested the second one.  
"Some new books?" advanced the third one.  
"No, no and no. She already has all of that. We would like something new, something different. We were thinking of portraying her."  
"That's is a brilliant idea, your majesty!"  
"Good. We are glad you agree with us. We want you to seek for the artist who we can trust to paint her majesty." 

After a lot of thought and research we found a man that could bring satisfaction to the King. His name was Lorenzo Monaco and he was an Italian monk visiting England. We introduced him to the king who liked him. However, the King requested Monaco first made his own head-and-shoulders portrait; if he was satisfied by the result he would order a full portrait for the Queen. 

Lorenzo Monaco was settled at the palace and set up his workroom in a room in the back of the palace, which was not in use. Before starting the portrait Monaco carried out several studies on the King's face, on some of his features, on his hair. Finally, after a month's work he said he was ready to start the portrait. The King was very excited and everything seemed fine.

At the end of the first week the King asked for the portrait to be shown to him.  
"We would like to see what you have been doing."  
"Yes, of course, your royal majesty. I would just like to point out it is still a charcoal draft and the final result will be very different"  
"Yes, yes, we know that, don't worry"  
On seeing the drawing the King was speechless.  
"Bushy, Green, Bagot. Come over here. How does that drawing look to you?"  
"I think it is quite nice."  
"It is actually very good!"  
"Are you mocking us? Are you implying we look like that?"  
We whispered some excuse and tried to look embarrassed at our misjudgement. Monaco, however, panicked and tried to calm down the King. "Don't get upset your royal highness, it is just a draft, it can be changed if you don't like it."  
That was the worst thing to say, of course. The King, feeling patronised, got mad at Monaco. "We will do exactly what we want to. So, if we want to get upset, we will. Answer us! Do we look like that? That man is boggle-eyed, he has a hooked nose, fleshy cheeks, big ears and the hair... Is our hair even close to that?"  
"No, of course not, your majesty. You are absolutely right."  
"That is exactly what we thought. Start over!"  
"Yes, of course your royal majesty"  
The truth is Monaco was very talented and his first drawing was excellent. The hair, indeed, might have required some improvements but otherwise the draft was brilliant. Still, the King was now too angry to be reasoned and we could do nothing to prevent the oncoming disaster."

\----------------------

They were the only one left in the White Hall by now. Bushy, Bagot and Green had had way too much wine and were speaking freely, even recklessly, forgetting Edward was not an adult. Green picked up the story were Bushy had left it.

\----------------------

"Two days later the King asked for the portrait to be shown to him again. We could easily foretell a new tantrum was coming.  
"Let us see, how are things going?"  
"Yes, of course your majesty."  
"What is wrong with you? Is our nose like that? Do we have such beady eyes? Do we have so many wrinkles? We don't!"  
"Your majesty is right. I will work on it again," Monaco was shaking.  
"This is unacceptable. Bagot, Bushy, Green. I am holding you accountable for this. Find a solution if you do not want to rot in the tower of London."

This went on for some time and turned into a nightmare. Every couple of days the King would ask to see the portrait and would unfailingly get angry because he wasn't pleased with it; he would take his irritation out on us and we had to bear his petulant mood. We also had to deal with Monaco's growing distress. Indeed, Monaco grew so terrified that, in a desperate attempt to get out of the situation, he tried to flee the palace. Fortunately we brought him back before the King found out about the whole thing.

Finally, one day, the King announced he was satisfied with the charcoal draft. The drawing bore only a slight resemblance to the King but no one dared to utter a single word.

Now, the tempera colour had to be applied. That step was a very delicate one and we were all very anxious. Once the tempera is applied, little can be done to modify the painting. The shades can be slightly reworked but that is pretty much all. The King and Monaco had several long discussions on the painting: the colours that would be used, the parts where gold should be applied, the texturing of the background and several other technical details. Finding the right shade for the King's hair was a thorny issue, as expected, but Monaco managed to provide a satisfying solution. The tempera step went surprisingly well.

Hence, to our relief, the painting was almost finished and the King seemed pleased with it. We were hoping that, once finished, the King would move on to the Queen's portrait or dismiss Monaco and that the first painting would be forgotten. However, it turned out we were overoptimistic.

Monaco was working on the background of the portrait, when, one day, the Queen entered the room by mistake. She was looking for a quiet place to hide and was surprised to find all of us there. "Your majesty, my lords, my apologies, I thought the room was empty." On her way out she noticed the painting on the easel. "What a wonderful painting. It is so beautiful. The details are so fine and the colours are amazing." A smile illuminated the King's face at her words. But, before he could say anything, she added, "Who is that young man?" Instantly the King flew off the handle. His smile vanished, his eyes darkened and rage distorted his even features. "Out, out!" he yelled. "Everybody out. I want this man thrown in the tower of London immediately and for the rest of his life and you," he added pointing towards our direction "I want you out of my sight if you don't want to end up in his cell!!" We left the room as fast as we could. Lorenzo Monaco was taken to the tower of London and nobody talked about the incident again."

\----------------------

"Now, Edward, remember. You gave us your word. Forget about the portrait and for everybody's sake don't bring up the subject in front of the King," requested Bagot.  
"But that can't be the end of the story... What happened to Monaco? What happened to the painting?" asked eagerly Edward.  
"We don't know. The painting somehow disappeared and nobody ever mentioned it again," answered Bagot.  
"We can tell you what happened to Lorenzo Monaco," said a voice from a dark corner of the room. Bushy, Bagot and Green froze as they identified the owner of the voice... They were in a lot of trouble.  
"My lord. We didn't mean..." started Bagot  
Richard cut him off in his most glacial tone "We will not tolerate to be taken for fools," he said, stepping in the candlelight. "We have been standing here long enough to know you meant every single word," he added his voice filled with anger. "So, isn't anybody interested in hearing the end of the story?" asked Richard, daring anybody to answer.  
"I am," said Edward unaware of the atmosphere's change.  
"Of course you are," replied Richard gently, stroking Edward's hair kindly. "We will deal with you tomorrow," said coldly Richard turning to Bushy, Bagot and Green. "Come with us fair cousin, we will put you to sleep and tell you the end of the story," Richard smiled tenderly to Edward and grabbed his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Edward is much younger than in the RSC version.
> 
> Lorenzo Monaco (born Piero di Giovanni, 1372-1424) is an historic figure. He is an Italian painter who worked in Florence. There is absolutely no evidence he ever set foot in England. I invented this part for the needs of my plot.


End file.
